The High Holidays are about taking a cleansing breath and looking within.

“This time of year really is an opportunity for reflection, both personally and as a citizen of the United States and of the world,” Rabbi Peter Rubinstein of the Central Synagogue in Manhattan told WCBS 880 reporter Peter Haskell.

That includes taking down our natural defenses.

“Defenses which would restrain us from being honest about ourselves,” he said.